Juniata Volleyball Earns 3-0 Over Newbury

Huntingdon, Pa. ? The Juniata College men?s volleyball team rode an overpowering service game and contributions from some different competitors to a 3-0 victory over Newbury College in Huntingdon Saturday afternoon. With the win, which was Juniata?s sixth-consecutive triumph, the Eagles improved to 10-6 on the season. Newbury dropped to 22-5 on the season with the loss.

Juniata recorded a season-high 10 serve aces in the match as they rolled to the 30-19, 30-17, 30-25 win.

A strong serve run from Nate Ocasio (Northeastern/Manchester) which included back-to-back aces helped Juniata pull out to a 19-10 lead in game one. The Eagles then got a late ace from Casey Dale (Cochranton/Cochranton) and another from Ocasio closed out the game.

Newbury hung with Juniata in game two, getting a kill from Jay Neveu to pull within one at 10-9. Juniata then got hot as Matt Springer (William Allen/Allentown) registered a kill to put Juniata in front 15-10. Springer then served the next seven points including three aces to put Juniata up 21-10. A late ace from Zach Bock (Northeastern/Manchester) brought Juniata to game point, and then Matt Fritz (John Carroll/Churchville, Md.) ended the game with a kill.

Game three was the tightest of the three as Newbury got a double block from LeRoy Cooper and Erik Kostanski to cut the Juniata lead to 22-21. Fritz then answered with a kill and followed it with a double block with Dan Rapp (Walt Whitman/Melville, N.Y.) to pull back in front 24-21. Newbury pulled back within two on two occasions, but Derek Stanley (Manheim Township/Lancaster), Chris Gass (Saint Marks/Newark, Del.) and Ryan McGinley (Pennridge/Perkasie) all added kills down the stretch to propel Juniata to the win.

McGinley was the top finisher for the Eagles as he recorded nine kills on 11 attacks. Stanley and Springer each added seven kills for the Blue and Gold. Ocasio finished with four aces to lead the team, while Springer chipped in three. Bock passed out 50 assists on the match and helped Juniata hit a sparkling .627 as a team. Fritz finished with a team-best seven digs, and was tops on the team with three blocks.

Kostanski led the Nighthawk attack with 11 kills in the match. Dean LaSalle passed out 25 assists for the visitors while Ken McNeeley tossed in a pair of serve aces. LeRoy Cooper paced the Newbury defense with four digs.

Juniata returns to action on Tuesday when the Eagles will play at EIVA Tait Division opponent Rutgers-Newark.